On the Way Down
by Burakku's Shadow
Summary: OneShot Songfic. Odd was a misunderstood boy with no future. Aelita was the angel who healed him. OddxAelita


On the Way Down

Genre: Angst/Romance

Media: Code: LYOKO

Parings: OddxAelita

Disclaimer: Code: LYOKO belongs to MoonScoop and AnteFilms and _On the Way Down_ belongs to Ryan Cabrera

A/N: As promised, my first ever fanfic is a Code: Lyoko one-shot about Odd and Aelita. I don't think it's as well written as I'd like it, but at least it's written, right?

On the Way Down

At the back of the room sat a boy clad all in black. He wore a black leather jacket that tightly hugged his shoulders then abruptly hung loosely around his arms and chest. The jacket's tail fell down to his knees when he sat, gently caressing the black bellbottoms that fit snuggly on his thighs and allowed the calves some room. His black boots just barely went above his ankles, but you could still see that he was wearing black-and-red socks. His hair was slicked back in a neo-hippy style, but like his attire was a solid black except for the shock of navy blue that showed itself just above his forehead. This boy was young, around the age of twelve or so.

The teacher, an elderly woman with gray-brown hair that frizzed like Albert Einstein's and large, round-rimmed glasses, stood at the front of the classroom, going about her lesson. She wore a white lab coat with two pens in her coat pocket on the left side.

"So remember, class," she stated, raising a finger and tapping the chalkboard with a stick, "Tonight's homework is the-"

The teacher was interrupted by a shrill ringing that vibrated throughout the whole room. The students began to stir.

The gothic-looking boy picked up his notebook and mechanical pencil, put the writing utensil into a hidden pocket in his jacket, and slowly trudged toward the door. Most of the other students moved away from him, some of them giving him crude looks.

Heeding their dislike, he stopped walking and leaned lazily against a desk in the second row. Waiting until every other student had left the classroom, he lightly pushed himself upright and was barely walking under the doorpost when the teacher stopped him.

"Odd Della Robbia?"

Snarling and slowly clenching stiff fingers into a fist, he stopped walking and glared menacingly at the wall across the hall. _Shit._

"Can I have a word with you, please?" the teacher asked, seating herself at the desk at the front of the classroom.

Forcing a more calm expression on his face, Odd turned around cautiously and leaned against the doorframe. He quickly locked eyes with the teacher, keeping her in a steady gaze. "Yeah, Mrs. Hertz?" he asked in a dead tone, his arms folded across his chest and one leg crossing over the other.

Mrs. Hertz fidgeted nervously. "We need to talk about your assignments for this class." She pulled out a manila folder and placed it on her desk, opening it and pulling out a few worksheets. Motioning for her student to come over, she held up three of the sheets. "Did you turn any of these assignments in?" she asked, waving a hand toward the pieces of paper in her hand.

"No," he automatically responded, not even looking at the white sheets. The dark-clad boy bent his head forward slightly, his eyes half-lidded and emphasizing the fact that he was annoyed. "You know that."

The elderly woman sighed. "Odd, you can't keep going on like this." Her voice was tired and hinted resignation. After a few more seconds of the Goth-like boy glaring at her, she waved her hand to shoo him. "I'll talk with you later."

_Fine by me._ He swiftly kicked himself away from the doorpost and walked into the hall at a normal, if not somewhat speedy, pace. Glaring angrily at the air in front of his face, he shoved his free hand into the navy-blue pocket of his black bellbottoms and carefully stroked a piece of paper in his hand.

_Tonight's the night,_ he thought tiredly to himself, sighing in the same emotion with a mild undertone of relief.

He had been planning this whole thing out for well over five months, carefully observing as much as he could about the school systems and so forth. He didn't want anything to go wrong, not this time.

Nobody in the school liked him. Odd Della Robbia. A wacky, somewhat cheerful name. But with a fiery temper and coldness that would make even a demon tremble in fear. Even his own roommate couldn't stand him and later asked the school if he could get a room of his own in the dormitories. The school had him sign some papers and they were both alone with their own space.

But soon that was all going to change.

Lightly sliding his thumb over the piece of paper in his pocket, he exited the science building and started heading toward the dormitories. _I have no reason to hesitate. No one will miss me._

_Sick and tired of this world_

_There's no more air_

_Trippin' over myself_

_Goin' nowhere_

_Waiting_

_Suffocating_

_No direction_

_And I took a dive, and-_

Standing on the other side of the bridge just in front of the abandoned factory, Odd Della Robbia stood on the edge of a concrete wall.

About fifteen or more feet below was a torrent of water, its dark, foamy depths seeming to be calling out to him, inviting him into its cold world.

He stood perfectly rigid, watching calmly as the current rushed a few inches out in front of him. _Just one step..._

Gently sliding his left hand into a pocket in his jacket, his fingers slowly enclosed around a metal object. It was warm, the pocket being hidden close to his body.

He momentarily closed his eyes, allowing his mind to wander. And he took a step forward...

_On the way down_

_I saw you_

_And you saved me from myself_

_And I won't forget_

_The way you loved me_

_On the way down_

_I almost fell right through_

_But I held onto you_

"No!"

Odd felt hands grab onto his shoulders and pull back. His eyes snapped open as he felt himself fall into someone else. Enraged, he snapped his neck back to stare up at the person who had stopped him from falling.

This mysterious person was a girl with short pink hair that had a strange fluffiness to it. She wore a pink dress with white frills on the bottom portion of the skirt and red boots with a single stripe going down the front of each boot. Her bright green eyes looked down at the boy in her lap, worry glinting softly in the moonlight.

The dark-clad boy's face softened, but he was still glaring at her nonetheless. "Why'd you do that?"

She stiffened and moved her upper body in surprise, but soon she was mirroring his hateful glare. "Wha-? I just saved your life! Aren't you grateful?"

_Grateful for what?_ Still looking somewhat angry, he raised an eyebrow. After a brief second, however, he resumed the colder stare.

Scoffing, she stared angrily at the air in front of her above the boy's face. "What I get when I actually try to help someone," she muttered incoherently under her breath.

Odd sat up, closing his eyes, slumping over, clenching hands into fists and just looking about ready to explode. "Would you _please_ leave me alone," he hissed, every word dripping with venom.

The mysterious girl recoiled, uncertain of what he'd actually try to do.

Standing up abruptly and whipping around, he growled shrilly, "I said -GO AWAY!!!" Eyes shooting daggers and flames practically flaring from his nostrils, his fists slowly uncurled themselves into strange, paw-like appendages with the fingers curved into claws.

Without hesitation, the pink-haired girl leaped up, spun around on her heels and dashed away. But what he didn't know was that she hid herself on the other side of the bridge.

Breathing heavily, the dark-clad boy reached into his hidden picket and pulled out the metal object; it was a gun.

_No more interruptions._

He slipped his finger into the trigger holder.

_So now I can finish._

He pointed the barrel toward his heart, and-

"Stop!"

Odd sent the coldest glare he could muster toward the fool girl who refused to leave him alone.

There she stood, eyes wide and arms splayed out as if to keep herself balanced. "What are you doing!?"

"Why would you care?" His voice was low and dark, almost inhuman.

Her face was completely dominated with sadness as she slowly walked toward him. "Why shouldn't I care?" she asked back, every word caressed in worry and sympathy. "You can't do this to yourself...not when you have so much life ahead."

The dark-clad middle-schooler stood there, uncertain of what he should do. He couldn't remember anyone showing so much concern for him. Not since that day...

Their eyes stayed locked on each other, neither looking away.

When she was close enough, she slowly took the gun out of his hand. He'd never let anyone even _touch_ his gun, much less take it right out of his hand like that. She gently placed a hand on his left cheek. He'd never let anyone touch him, and he was determined to keep that a solid fact.

Snatching her wrist and yanking her hand away from his face, he glared coldly. "What life?" _I've got nothing ahead of me. Why can't anyone let me go?_

_I've been wondering why_

_It's only me_

The next morning, he woke up disappointed with himself. And yet…he also felt something different.

At breakfast, there was that same girl from the night before. She was sitting with a small group, one of the members being Odd's former roommate.

The dark-clad boy was careful to avoid the table and stay as far away from them as possible.

She broke from the group.

_Oh, no…please don't come anywhere near me…_

She sat down next to him.

He slammed a fist down. _Shit._

"So…you're Odd Della Robbia, right?"

He sent the coldest glare toward her. _How dare you be so cheerful? You're _really_ ruining my day._

"My name's Aelita."

His cold expression iced over ten-fold. _You're still going for it?_

"Would you like to sit at my table?"

All iciness left and was completely replaced with surprise. _Did she just ask…?_

The feeling he had felt that morning, that strange flutter resonating inside his head and the bizarre warmth inside his chest, cam back to him. It told him it was safe.

"Sure…" he responded hesitantly, frowning when she beamed happily, victoriously.

"Alright, then!" she chirped, swiftly grabbing onto his arm and dragging him over to the table she had been sitting at earlier. "This is Yumi," she introduced, pointing to a black-clad Japanese girl. "That's Jeremie," she continued, motioning toward a blonde boy wearing glasses and a bright blue shirt. "And this is –"

"He already knows me," interrupted a brown-haired boy wearing a green vest and a lime-green t-shirt underneath, raising his right hand and looking distastefully at the dark-clad boy.

"Nice to see ya, too, Ulrich," Odd muttered sarcastically, preparing to just turn around and leave. He groaned when Aelita grabbed onto his arm. _Do I have to?_

"You said you'd come," she said simply, looking directly into his eyes. "And I'd like you to stay. Would you, please?"

The feeling grew slightly, enticing him to comply. Griping himself, he sat down in the corner of the table. Flinched when Aelita put her hand on top of his. Grimaced every time she smiled at him. _Why do I put myself through these things?_

_Have you always been inside_

_Waiting to breathe_

Nearly five months later, the dark-clad boy no longer was wearing black.

He wore a dark, navy-blue shirt with near-black jeans that covered his dark-blue shoes with silver highlights. His hair was a deep, deep brown and the shock in his hair was a mysterious, blue-violet color.

Aelita came walking over toward him in the courtyard, looking as happy and friendly as ever. When her emerald eyes fell upon Odd, they smiled at each other.

"How's your day going?" he asked somewhat cheerfully, although he already knew the answer.

Her smile faded and she slumped over somewhat. "Absolutely horrible," she sighed, sounding truly dejected.

His smile dissipated and a cold, angry look smothered all other expressions from his face. "Who's bothering you? Is it Sissi again?"

The pink-haired girl smirked, then giggled behind her hand. "I'm just kidding," she chuckled, leaning forward from trying to keep from laughing too hard. "Don't be so serious! My day's going great."

Staring blankly for a brief moment, he smirked and shook his head. _Ah, always the same ol' Aelita._

_It's alright_

_Sunlight_

_On my face_

A month away from the end of the school year, Odd Della Robbia was almost completely different. No longer clad all in black, he wore different shades of purple (his clothes changing from a bright purple v-neck to a purple hoody in the same shade, the bellbottoms staying pretty much the same except for the pockets), gold escalator shoes to cover up the fact that he hadn't grown even a millimeter all year, and he even had blonde hair spiked to a precarious shape (almost an upside-down cone, just for the sake of being unique) with a dark purple shock just above his forehead. No longer was he short-tempered and antisocial, but now a complete "lady's man" with all the patience and humor in the world. Constantly smiling and laughing, everyone soon forgot the Odd Della Robbia they had known at the beginning of the school year and quickly accepted the new boy he had transformed into. In fact, on his thirteenth birthday, more than half of the student body at school threw him a surprise birthday party in the gym (with permission from their principal, of course).

And he knew exactly who to thank for the miraculous transformation. He also had a plan to thank her on the last day of school.

_I wake up and yeah_

_I'm alive_

A week before the end of school, Odd was walking around the courtyard, leisurely roaming around and occasionally greeting a fellow student. He was careful to keep his hands in his pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking.

_Why's this so hard?_ he asked himself mentally, struggling to hide all discomfort. _Just go up to her and –_

"Hey, Odd!"

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice that made him want to turn around and hug the voice's owner. He settled for a warm smile.

Looking over his shoulder, he chirped, "Hey there, Princess! I was just lookin' for ya."

Aelita grinned devilishly. "Yeah, I could tell." The grin left and a small, innocent smile caressed her lips. "I was looking for you, too."

Odd raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Somethin' ya wanna tell me?"

She nodded sheepishly, hiding her hands behind her back. "I'm not sure how I should start, though…" Her voice was low, almost a nervous whisper.

The purple-clad boy's smile softened and he turned around to fully face her. "Don't be scared," he whispered in a soothing tone, gently taking her hands in his. "Let it come out naturally. I promise I won't bite."

Smiling at his little joke, emerald eyes locked onto dark-blue, searching for truth. She found more than that, something that made her feel calm and peaceful. Taking a breath, she opened her mouth to say the words, when –

"Odd! Aelita!"

Soon a camera lens was focused on the two affore-mentioned persons, the little girl holding the little gadget smiling brightly.

Aelita looked confusedly between the camera girl and the other girl holding a notepad and a pencil. "Milly and Tamiya?"

Odd's smile disappeared and his face went blank. "What are you two doing?" He still held the pink-haired girl's hands, but the grip was extremely loose.

"We want an interview," explained the African-French girl holding the camera, waving her free hand toward her partner.

"From you, Odd," finished the other girl who had red hair tied into pigtails. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked, holding out her notepad and pencil while she was talking and pulling the items back when she finished her question.

"Hold on, Milly," chuckled the purple-clad boy, smiling. "Aelita has something she wants to tell me." He returned his gaze to the girl whose hands he was still holding, his grip tightening gently.

Looking somewhat ashamed, she smiled shyly and muttered, "It can wait."

Tilting his head and giving Aelita a worried, questioning look, he let go of her hands. "Alright, well…I'll see ya later then." He waved goodbye and walked off, Milly asking questions and Tamiya recording the event.

Odd and Aelita both felt the same thing…sadness.

'_Cause_

_On the way down_

_I saw you_

_And you saved me from myself_

_And I won't forget_

_The way you loved me_

_On the way down_

_I almost fell right through_

_But I held on to you_

At last, the day had come: the last day of school.

Odd was so excited he couldn't stop smiling. Everything was going so perfectly, even the other students smiled when he walked by. No one could ruin his mood, not even a certain black-haired girl with a major ego problem could make him frown.

After the last bell rang, the purple-clad boy strolled merrily to the front of the school building. Leaning against the fence, he contemplated the last week. He remembered Aelita trying to tell him something through the entire time, but something always interrupted. _What was it that she was trying to tell me?_

He shoved these thoughts to the back of his mind when he saw his special princess come up to him. "Hey, Princess! Got something for you," he chirped as he reached his right hand into his right pocket. "Guess what it is, first."

Aelita's eyes lit up and her smile brightened. "A present?" she asked, excitement pouring from the word _present_.

Odd's grin broadened. "More specifically?" he enquired, his hand still inside the pocket.

"Um…is it something electronic?" She became overwhelmingly excited when her boyfriend nodded enthusiastically. "Yippee! Um…is it…an iPod Nano?"

The blonde tilted his head and looked off to the side. "Hmm, not quite. But it's just as good."

She pouted and enlarged her eyes, pleading, "Oh, just tell me! Please?"

That face always made Odd want to melt. "Oh, alright," he sighed, pulling out a hard-plastic object from its hiding place. "Ta-da!"

In his hand was a bright pink, curved-edged rectangle with a screen near the top with a silver frame. Underneath the screen was a dark-blue oval with silver left, right, up and down buttons with the arrows colored a deep red. Underneath the oval was another rectangle, this time colored dark-blue, with silver buttons inked with numbers 1-9, the number symbol (#), a zero, then an extra button that had nothing inked on it. On either side of the oval were two buttons, one on each side and both with a cord-phone cut out.

Aelita's eyes widened in surprise. "A Kricket?" she gasped, cautiously picking up the cell-phone with one hand while the other hand went up to her face.

Her boyfriend nodded. "It's already been paid for, including insurance. You're not spending a single penny on it 'cause it's already on my account."

Bright emerald-green eyes turned up to Odd. "It is?" Lowering her hand, she wrapped her arms around his upper body, nearly crushing him. "Oh, Odd! Thank you!"

Hugging her back, he whispered into her hear, "I needed to thank you…for what you did."

_I was so afraid_

_Of going under_

_But now_

_The weight of the world_

_Feels like nothing_

_No, nothing_

She moved her head to look into his eyes. "Thank me for what? I didn't do anything."

He smiled gently, unwinding one of his arms from her shoulders and placing a hand on her cheek. "But you did, Princess." He leaned his head forward, their lips close enough to start a kiss.

_Down, down, down_

_You're all I wanted_

_Down, down, down_

_You're all I needed_

_Down, down, down_

_You're all I wanted_

_You're all I needed_

"You saved me…from myself."

She turned her head away, hugged him tighter. "I only did what I felt was right," she explained, letting go of him and gazing adoringly at her new gift. "It's so beautiful…"

Odd's smile broadened. "So we can still talk to each other when we can't meet up for next year."

Aelita's smile dissipated automatically. A sad expression came onto her face, eyes downcast and forlorn. "Odd," she whispered sadly, hands hiding themselves behind her back. "I'm not coming to Kadic next year."

All happiness was wiped clean from his face and he took a step back to steady himself. _What!?_ He was in complete shock. To him, it felt as if she had just slapped him in the face. Mouth agape, his jaw moving yet no words coming out.

"My family's moving, Father insists." She turned tear-filled eyes up toward her boyfriend, pain shining in those emerald orbs. "I-I tried to tell you, but –"

He gently took her by the shoulders, peered deeply into her eyes. "I know, Princess."

_So much pain, sadness. Boy, do I know what that feels like._

Odd could _feel_ the emotions emanating from her soul, her physical body trembling with the building pressure. All he could do was try and ease her suffering. "It's alright," he whispered tenderly as he hugged her, closing his eyes and sharing his warmth. _She feels so cold…_

_And I won't forget_

_The way you loved me_

At the bus stop, Odd Della Robbia and Aelita Hopper sat together on the faded-brown bench. They both looked sad, holding each other's hands.

The purple-clad boy looked up to the pink-haired girl sitting next to him. "At least we'll stay in touch."

She nodded without looking at him.

He had already shown her his cell-phone number on her screen and her cell-phone number oh his screen on his own cell-phone. They would still be able to talk to each other.

A bus came rumbling down the street, the speed telling the two young teens that it wasn't The One.

Even then, they couldn't get themselves to feel any better.

Aelita stood up, slowly walked over to the stop sign with her duffel bags. She was trembling, fearing that she would never see Odd again after this day.

After a few seconds of mournful silence, he too stood up and walked over to her. He gently placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. "This isn't the end, Aelita."

_All I wanted_

_All I needed_

She turned her head to look at him, tears threatening to overflow. "But why does it feel like it is?" she asked quietly, her voice small and trembling.

He shook his head slowly, wishing he could give her a more comforting answer.

That's when The Bus started rolling down the hill.

_On the way down_

_I saw you_

_And you saved me from myself_

_And I won't forget_

_The way you loved me_

_On the way down_

_I almost fell right through_

_But I held on to you_

Walking up the stairs into the bus, she stopped about halfway to look back. Watching her was her ever-faithful boyfriend, the sadness in his eyes making it even harder for her to leave.

Tears ready to overflow, she said, "Goodbye, Odd."

Odd forced a small smile to materialize onto his face. "Goodbye doesn't exist, you know." His voice was assuring, almost playful.

It was her turn to give a small smile.

"Bye, Aelita." The happiness left, his tone as forlorn as the way she felt.

"Bye, Odd."

Aelita turned back around and continued up the stairs. When the door closed, she continued on to the back of the bus. Odd followed from the outside.

He stopped short when the bus "blew the horn". It meant the bus was ready to leave.

_Down, down, down_

_But I held on to you_

The bus started out slow enough, but it started picking up speed.

He was alright with jogging, but soon he had to run at full speed just to keep up. She saw him follow and looked through the back window.

The burning in his chest only intensified with the number of breaths he took, his legs aching more with every step. But he wasn't going to stop, not until they reached the city limit…which they were dangerously close to.

Finally, the bus started to slow. But it was only to turn a corner; he didn't have muck time left.

Running up to the back of the bus, he placed a hand on the window. Aelita did the same, placing her hand on the same spot on the other side of the glass.

"Aelita," he gasped, still running to keep up with the turning vehicle. "Aelita, I love you!"

Tears spilled down her face as she mouthed out the words "I love you, too."

"I'll never forget you, Aelita!" he shouted as the bus finished the turn and rode on out of the city. Panting hard, he stopped and nearly stumbled, tears sliding down his face and sobs threatening to explode from his throat. Started crying harder when he saw her press both hands on the window, her face distorted by unbearable sadness and more tears falling down as she, too, began to cry.

Throwing himself on the sidewalk to avoid being hit by a passing vehicle, he forced himself to stand up and lean against a brick building.

Looking back up to the road where the bus passed over a hill and out of sight, he whispered, "We will meet again, Aelita. I know we will."

_Because I'll always have your love, just as you will always have mine._

"Thank you…for saving me."

_Down, down, down_

_But I held on to you_

A/N2: Like I said, not as well written as I'd liked. BUT I hope you guys liked it well enough!

All flames will be consumed and spat out as dust, so don't waste your time.

Burakku's Shadow/Manjoume-Enchantress


End file.
